Annotating Books…
Annotating books? Have you ever tried it? Give it a go!
Annotating to me is when you get a highlighter in a fancy colour and is used to capture the attention of the book reader. Other ways of annotating books include; dog-earing, tabbing (small sticky notes), writing in the margins & underlining key words or phrases.
It is a very common practice used by students to aid with revision but also it is also used by people who like to have notes on books such as book bloggers and reviewers.
As you all know I am currently taking an A Level (in English Literature) and have recently discovered the joys of annotating books. Many people on blogs and bookTube have done lots of talks on the pros and cons.
I personally today decided to start to do it myself because I want good notes and need quotes for my assignments and revision. My one tip is to have two copies so you can still read for fun if you want to or if you need to have a clean copy for an exam like I do.
If you’re worried about ruining a book, I would not recommend this… but if you are looking to advance your reading or want to create good notes, for example, study this is the perfect thing to do, plus it doesn’t take too much of your time either.
DO YOU ANNOTATE BOOKS – OR DISAGREE WITH ANNOTATING – WHY?
Please let me know in the comments below!
6 Comments
Danielle
It seems the general consensus is that annotating books is mainly for study/school and not for enjoyment.
OvyReadz
I like to have clean copies!! So a big NO?. If I am very much into a quote or statement, I take pics of them generally!
abigailsbooks32
I had to annotate books when I was in school and I hated it. Now all I do is take notes on books if I plan on writing a review. I prefer not to mark in my books though 🙂
Hannahsbeautifulfantasy
See for school I did this and it worked. But for my own books I couldn’t do it. However I do have a Notebook and write down key points as I go.
Arachnid Weaver
I dislike annotating. While I don’t need to keep my books in pristine condition, I do like the text to be clean. I think annotations are distracting if you reread it.
You can’t really look at a word and not read it, so to get kicked out of the flow of the book by a note or something is annoying. Writing in a note also stops the flow.
If I find a quote I really like or have a strong opinion about something that I’d like to discuss later in my review, I write it down in my notebook for later, which is always close by.
Darque Dreamer Reads
I’ve never been good at this, but have recently considered giving it a go with books I review because I do like to pull quotes for enjoy-ability and character examples and would like to improve on my reviews.